Conard Goalie Received The Gift Of Life

WEST HARTFORD — Sretching just above Neil Droney's belly button is a reminder of the winter of 2009-2010.

But for the Conard High School boys soccer goalie the scar that runs across his stomach is much more than just a sign of the past.

"It is pretty much my life," the freshman said Tuesday. "Without that scar I wouldn't be here."

On Dec. 12, 2009, when he was 12, Droney received a liver transplant from his father. The scar stands as evidence of the day his father Tim saved his life.

"He gave me the gift of life, so there are not many words that I can really use to say thank you for that," Droney said.

Late in November 2009 at a travel soccer tournament, one of Droney's teammates noticed a bit of jaundice in his eyes and said they looked "yellow."

"I didn't really think much of it, but by the end of the last game that day I could barely kick the ball over half field," said Droney, who was playing goal at the time.

Droney's parents brought him to the pediatrician the next day, where he received a blood test and was diagnosed with mononucleosis. But Droney didn't get better and they soon took him to get an ultrasound at Hartford Hospital. After being admitted for a day at Connecticut Children's Medical Center and then spending time at Yale-New Haven Hospital, the family was told the news — his liver was failing and he was at risking of dying.

Droney was quickly put on a list of patients with the greatest need for a liver, but the family soon found out that Tim Droney's liver was a perfect match for his son. Barely 48 hours had passed before Tim Droney was preparing to give a part of his liver (technically he says it was a third) to his son.

"I don't really remember much from that whole week," Droney said.

"We were very lucky because they wanted a relative," his father said. "We had a lot of faith."

The transplant was successful. Yet on Dec. 29, two weeks after the 12-hour surgery, Droney said he felt some of the worst pain of his life, a burning sensation across his stomach. It turns out that his bile duct, which runs from the liver to the intestine carrying bile, had snapped, he learned later.

"My mom was on the phone telling my aunt how good I looked and right when she hung up the phone I had this really sharp pain in my abdomen," Droney said.

Instead of calling an ambulance, Droney's parents drove him to the emergency room at Yale.

"It was the longest drive of my life," Droney said.

Doctors there discovered the ruptured bile duct, and Droney went into surgery on New Years Eve day. But the surgery, which lasted longer than the liver transplant had, wasn't the end of his ordeal. For three days, Droney lay with his chest open because his organs were so swollen that it couldn't be closed. After two weeks at Yale, Droney went home. But even that was temporary.

"I was admitted two or three times after all this because my liver was showing signs of failure," Droney. "I had to go back to Yale for a check-up every two days because it was so serious. So a week at a time I'd go to the hospital, then go home for three days, and then back again. It went on like that for three months."

Droney finally returned home for good in April 2010. He said he goes back to the hospital maybe every six months for a checkup, takes three pills a day and other than getting tired easily, he is fine. Through it all, the idea of playing soccer again pushed Droney.

"I just wanted to get back and play soccer," Droney said.

This season, Droney, 14, is getting that chance for Conard (3-1). Droney, who started playing soccer again in the spring of 2010, is one of three goalies Conard coach Adam Linker plans to use this season, and he is set to start against Northwest Catholic Friday. Linker has high expectations for the freshman.

"[Neil] is going to be more than just a fixture on this team — he is going to be one of the dominant players here for a number of years," Linker said. "His name will be in the paper and he will be one of the stars here — he is that good."

Droney has his family name to live up to. His older brother Andrew holds every goalie record at the school and plays for Sacred Heart University as a sophomore. Living up to his brother's legacy is a lot to handle for a freshman just trying to gain some experience, but Droney knows a little about battling.

"I think about courage, I think about strength, I think about determination and just sheer will [when I think about Neil]," Linker said.